Egyptian Ship With 1,300 Aboard Sinks

An Egyptian passenger ship carrying 1,300 people has sunk in the Red Sea, the head of the Egyptian Maritime Authority said Friday.

Mahfouz Taha Marzouk said the ship, "Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98," sank 40 miles off the Egyptian port of Hurghada.

Marzouk told The Associated Press that 15 bodies and 12 survivors have been found so far.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Embassy told the British Broadcasting Corp. that "dozens of bodies of victims" had been pulled from the choppy waters.

The cause was not immediately known, but there were high winds and a sandstorm overnight on Saudi Arabia's west coast, from which the ship departed Thursday evening.

Egyptian maritime officials say helicopters spotted bodies floating on the sea, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger.

Saudi and Egyptian rescue ships and helicopters are in the area looking for more survivors, but bad weather is hampering the effort, reports CBS News correspondent David Hawkins.

Britain's top naval officer said Friday that he has diverted a warship to the north Red Sea site where an Egyptian passenger ship has sunk.

The HMS Bulwark is now heading toward the site and will arrive in a day-and-a-half, said Adm. Sir Alan West, Britain's first sea lord.

The agent for the ship in Saudi Arabia, Farid al-Douadi, said the Salaam 98 was in good condition and left port with fewer than 2,500 maximum number of passengers it is permitted to carry. The passengers were mostly Egyptians but included Saudis, Sudanese and other nationalities.

The ship disappeared from radar screens shortly after sailing from the western Saudi port of Dubah at 7 p.m. local time on Thursday night, maritime officials in Suez said.

The ship was due in at Egypt's port of Safaga at 3 a.m. local time, the officials added. Dubah and Safaga lie across from each other at the northern end of the Red Sea.

The ship is owned by the Egyptian firm El-Salaam Maritime Transport Co. and was carrying 1,300 passengers, officials said. Some of the passengers are believed to be pilgrims returning from the annual hajj to Mecca, which ended last month.

Mamdouh Ismail, the company's owner, said the ship is more than 25 years old and registered in Panama. He refused to elaborate. Another source said the ship was 35 years old.

Brona Russell was a passenger on the "Salam 98" when she was living and working in the Middle East several years ago. She told the BBC "it was the worst vessel we have ever been on," and rolled badly on her voyage. "We were almost rolling out of the beds."

A ship owned by the same company, also carrying pilgrims, collided with a cargo ship at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal in October, causing a stampede among passengers trying to escape the sinking ship. Two people were killed and 40 injured.